Water, in the course of its use in industrial, municipal and agricultural applications may be treated with an astounding array of treatment agents including, for example, chemicals that enhance solid-liquid separation, membrane separation process performance enhancers, antiscalants and anticorrosives that retard or prevent corrosion or scale formation and deposition on surfaces in contact with the treated water, antifoulants that retard or prevent membrane fouling, biodispersants, microbial-growth inhibiting agents such as biocides and cleaning chemicals that remove deposits from surfaces that contact the treated water.
Control of treating agent dosage is of paramount importance in virtually all water treatment processes. Obviously, a minimum effective amount of treating agent must be maintained in the water for the treatment to have its desired effect. Conversely, overdosing the treating agent would be at best uneconomical and at worst could result in damage to the process or the processing equipment, particularly in the case of processes involving the use of membranes as described herein. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for the development of improved methods of monitoring and controlling the concentration of water treatment agents in process water.